Unfashionable…

9781601420855mPastor Tullian Tchividjian’s new book UNFASHIONABLE, Making A Difference in the World by Being Different, is good reading so far. Let drop some quotes in the blog for you to chew on…

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…our culture is growing weary of slick production and whatever’s new and is growing hungry for authentic presence and historical rootedness. Younger generations don’t want trendy engagement from the church; in fact, they’re suspicious of it. Instead they want truthful engagement with historical and theological solidity that enables meaningful interaction with transcendent reality. They want desperately to invest their lives in something worth dying for, not some here-today-gone-tomorrow fad.

…Just when our culture is yearning for something different, many churches are developing creative ways to be the same. Just as many in our culture are beginning to search back in time, many churches are pronouncing the irrelevance of the past. Just as people are starting to seek after truth, many churches are turning away from it. As a result these churches are losing their distinct identity as a people set apart to reach the world.

Let’s recall what Jesus said (Luke 14:34-35),
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Patience Measured in Years

I was reading in Hebrews 6 this morning, noting its exhortations to be diligent in faith and patience….

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9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook a your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. [emphasis added to esv]

Little did I remember (until spotting the ESVSB notes) that old Abraham waited 25 years for the promise about a son to be fulfilled (cf. Gen. 12:4 & 21:5). Twenty-five YEARS.

How grossly impatient we appear in light of this!
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